Soccer: Right time, right place to sign up

By TERRY MADDAFORD

In sport, timing is everything.

The precise moment to make the match-winning pass, the timing of the bat hitting the ball, the perfect golf shot, and in Wynton Rufer's case, the right time to approach prospective players.

Looking overseas to strengthen the Football Kingz side he will coach for their second NSL season, Rufer played a hunch and called Germany.

Among his targets was midfielder Andy Bluhm, who he played against some years ago. Rufer felt Bluhm could play a vital role for the Auckland-based club.

"I was surprised to get the call," said Bluhm after his third training run with his new team-mates this week.

"I was in contact with a professional club in Germany and ready to sign. Wynton gave me an offer, my wife and I talked it over. It took only a day for us to decide we would come."

It was a big decision for the 26-year-old and his wife, Irina, who is eight months' pregnant with their first child.

"We know the baby is a girl and that she will be a Kiwi kid," said Bluhm. "But her name is top secret."

Bluhm did not feel completely alone when he arrived this week as he joined another Rufer find, striker Dennis Ibrahim, in the Kingz squad.

The pair played together for a year in their younger days and are now looking forward to renewing that partnership.

Ibrahim's signing was another example of Rufer's exemplary timing.

"I met him on a Monday when I was in Germany and he had to decide the next day on an offer he had," said Rufer. "I remembered him from his days in the Werder Bremen youth team.

"I spoke to his coach and it was just lucky I was there at the right time.

"Andy's coach had also said to me if I could get [Bluhm] it would be a bonus. We did. It's a miracle that they were both free agents as we could not have paid any transfer fees. Given their ability, a $200,000 fee would be normal.

"It was brilliant."

The pair know that the NSL could be their ticket back to European football and are determined to make the most of the opportunity Rufer and the Kingz have given them.

"European managers watch the NSL," said Rufer. "You can see from the number of players who have gone from it to sign good contracts just how important it is.

Neither Andy or Dennis were playing in the first division of the Bundesliga but this could be their chance to impress one of those 18 clubs."

Twenty-five-year-old Ibrahim said it was an honour to be asked by Rufer to come to New Zealand.

"It is a challenge, and one I'm really looking forward to," said Ibrahim, who promises to add firepower to the Kingz strike force.

Rufer has no doubts: "He is a striker. He is quick and has a great left foot. That's good enough for me."

The arrival of the two Germans adds to the international flavour at the club.

The duo, who speak good English, can converse in their native tongue with Rufer, his brother, Shane and Aaran Lines, while the new goalkeeper, Argentine Julio Cuello, joins Chilean striker Aaron Silva as the Spanish-speaking team members.

Toss in a couple of Australians, and the expected return of Batram Suri from the Solomon Islands, and it is easy to understand Rufer's claim that there is a good feeling as the Kingz build towards pre-season games aimed at having them ready for the October 13 league kickoff.